The present invention relates to an umbrella opening and closing device without use of a spring latch which is particularly adapted for a non foldable and hand operated umbrella. The present device is comprised of a first retainer extended from an upper mounting member and a second retainer integrally associated with a main runner of the umbrella; the first retainer is provided with a number of female cavities and the second retainer is provided with correspondingly a number of male protrusions. Each female cavity on the first retainer is integrally complementary in shape to a male protrusion on the second retainer whereby the male protrusions can be tightly fitted in the corresponding female cavities when the first retainer and the second retainer are engaged with each other in the opening of the umbrella.
In a conventional hand operated umbrella, an upper spring latch disposed on the upper portion of an intermediate post is used to support a main runner in place which is slidable on the main post of the umbrella and is connected to a plurality of stretching ribs that are in pivotal connection to a main frame of the umbrella at one end. A lower spring latch disposed at the bottom of the main post is used to lock the main runner in place so as to keep the closed umbrella well received without randomly being opened. The main frame is pivotally secured to an upper mounting member and a crown is disposed at the top of the umbrella and a handle is located at the bottom thereof for easy holding of the same. The spring lactch is resiliently operated so that the main runner can move thereover by forcing it into a slot in the opening of the umbrella and be supported in place by the spring latch popped out from the slot after the main runner has moved over it. To make the umbrella collapse, a person only has to push the spring latch into the slot and force the main runner to slide over it and pull the main runner down to the bottom of the post so as to effect the closing of the umbrella.
Although the prior art hand operated umbrella is not as easy and convenient as an automatically operated umbrella in use, anyway, it can be easily opened and closed by way of a main runner and is also simple in structure and has good durability in practical use; there are still some disadvantages associated therewith given as below:
1. The hand operated umbrella is simple in structure but it must be equipped with an upper and lower spring latch to hold the umbrella opened and well closed respectively, and the mounting of the spring latches onto the post of an umbrella is relatively complicated and time consuming.
2. To open or close the conventional umbrella, a person has to press the lower spring latch and the upper spring latch respectively into the corresponding slots so as to permit the main runner to move up or down thereover to expand the canopy attached to the main frame of the umbrella by way of the stretching ribs connected to the main runner or to make the canopy collapse in a reverse manner. The pressing against a spring latch will cause a little pain to the finger and is relatively inconvenient.
To overcome the above cited disadvantages of the prior art umbrella, a spring latchless umbrella is developed, as shown in FIG. 1. This type of umbrella adopts a main runner 13 to which are pivotally connected a plurality of stretching ribs 14 at the upper portion thereof and a plurality of resilient spring elements 15 at the lower portion thereof. The other ends of the stretching ribs 14 and the spring elements 15 are pivotally coupled to the main frame 12 at adjacent points thereon. The main runner 13 is slidably disposed on a central post 10, a shock absorbing element 16 is disposed near the top of the central post under an upper mounting member 11. A buffer element 17 is mounted onto the top of the main runner 13. The construction of this type of umbrella enables the same to be operated without the use of spring latches, but there are still some disadvantages associated therewith:
1. The use of a plurality of spring elements to replace the conventional spring latches makes the assembly complicated and time consuming.
2. The spring elements used to keep the canopy of the umbrella opened may also force the main runner slide downward as a result of lack of a limiting stop.
3. The collapsed umbrella can not be received in a compact manner due to the addition of the spring elements, the main frame and the stretching ribs can not closely abut against the central post, making the collapsed umbrella bulky in size.